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Women have always played a central role in the plans of Jehovah and have never been denounced as servants to the male gender by Him. The world being full of sin has repeatedly speculated as to the subservient role of women in the work of Yeshua on the earth yet it has been mentioned that there is neither male nor female in the eyes of Jehovah.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Note the requirement to apply the knowledge of this principle ONLY within the context of belief in Christ. It is no wonder that those without the knowledge of Christ would seek to divide, enslave and ridicule any differing groups of people, whereas those that seek the mind of Christ, as versed above, should not!

1 Corinthians 1

26For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

29That no flesh should glory in his presence.

The woman has always been derided as the 'weaker sex' and certainly physically (in terms of physical strength) they would be, this obvious fact in the physical world cannot be denied. This though, is insufficient justification for denying their role in Jehovah's plan, both in the present and in the future. In fact, whenever people (both male and female) follow a train of thought that in the 'physical' (ie following physical laws of the Universe) seems comprehensible (humanly logical), Jehovah uses the diametric opposite to prove that ultimately, He is in control, and can make illogic (to the unrepentant mind) seem real, just to prove His omnipotence. Note that in the verses, the Apostle Paul does not deny Yeshua's calling to EVERY 'wise men after the flesh' (eg. university professors, intellectuals), but it certainly seems that he is professing that on balance, it seems the calling amongst them is unlikely, probably due to the fact that that to reach their lofty place in society, they would have to adhere to the unchristian way of life.

Genesis Plan

Genesis 1

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

It was Elohim's intention from the very start to build a unique set of beings. Beings which, like the angels, had free will, but would ultimately have a a strong connection between the physical dimension/s and the Heavenly dimension/s. Elohim formed the light being within Himself and breathed this sentient but inexperienced light being into Adam, the physical, forming the first Son. In this somewhat bizarre (to our carnal mind) fashion, Elohim acted as father and mother to this Adam, for Elohim possesses all the characteristics that are present (and differentiate) the human male and female species. In fact, it would not be unfeasible that the non-physical characteristics of both the male and female species resided in the original Adam, just like the Being who made him, Elohim. This was later separated out physically, when Adam's rib was surgically extricated to genetically clone form the WoMan, with the duplication of the X chromosome to form XX. Note that Elohim did not form a NEW chromosome (eg. Z chromosome). Elohim just duplicated the X chromosome for WoMan. Thus WoMan retained all that the male had but morphed into something slightly different, though complementary. This was going to be an analogy of Yeshua and His bride, the Church. Different but complementary. The bride (church) would not be as powerful as an individual but would possess all the powers of the groom in the union.

Let us not forget that the reason that the woman was physically different is that the plan was to enable procreation within the union (a characteristic of Elohim but not of the angels). This was in light of the fact that Elohim knew the human race would become separated from Him, and that the ability to multiply would enable a subsequent 'perfect' human to form, that would be the ultimate seed for the hybridization process between sinful (in the past) human kind and the creator, Elohim. In essence, Elohim killed 2 birds with one stone. Elohim, allowed man to mirror His procreative capabilities, and also prevented sinful humans from needing eternal physical life (which would negate the work of dying on the cross in the future), since without death, there would be no need to procreate to carry on the species.

Why not build Adam so that asexual reproduction could be accomplished? Because Elohim knew the feeling of loneliness/separation, both in the past and in the future. He knew that the Adam would be lonely without an Eve. Just like the Father would be lonely without the Son or the Holy Spirit. Within the context of the physical universe, this 3 in 1 capability of Elohim had to be translated into a separation of 1 into 2 but still able to form a union to form the 3rd (child), perfectly mirroring the relationship dynamics of the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son. Mirrored symmetry is very important to Elohim.All great and good, but the whole ideal was shattered by the SIN of Adam and Eve. Make no mistake, both were equally culpable. Eve for not believing the Word of Jehovah to the letter (ie not subject to carnal interpretation, but Word for Word), Adam for being blinded by infatuation (as opposed to responsible love). The ideal was a 50-50 partnership producing a 500% expected gains as opposed to an individual alone. SIN took care of that for sure!

Be aware that it would make more sense to translate this as 'To wife: you will toil in conception a lot, delivery will be painful. You will crave for a man, and it will end up with him lording it over you'. How true, if modern life is anything to go by. Isn't it typical for the women (of any age) to go to the pub/dance to 'get a man' and after the pleasantries, end up in bed? Then the man fulfills his lording over her by assuming the wham, bam, 'thank you ma'am' characteristics much vaunted amongst men . These sayings of Elohim are not a curse to punish humans, but a foretelling of the consequences of sin that will impinge upon their lives, as evidenced by the fact that the 'I will' was an addition to the narrative.

In Judges 4:4, there was a woman judge of Israel. She had a husband, and Jehovah did not find it beneath Himself to elect a female to fulfill this very powerful role. If Jehovah could choose a lady then, why not now? This is a rhetorical question.

In 2 Kings 22, the prophetess Huldah was consulted when the long forgotten Mosaic Laws were brought from the temple to King Josiah, who ripped his clothes in repentance. When enquiry was made of Huldah, she did not mince her words, giving the truth (which turned out to be bad news and judgement for the sins of Judah), as straight as an arrow on a calm day. Huldah is not inspired by big titles or intimidated by the power of men. This attitude is affirmed by the way she responds confidently and with authority to the high ranking government officials. She refers to the king as just any other man by commanding in an unceremonious manner to "Tell the man who sent you to me".

In Luke 2:36, Anna is a prophetess that bears witness to the redeemer. She was very old and spent all her time worshiping God by fasting and praying at the temple. Upon seeing the baby Jesus she praised God; she joyfully told of the child to everyone in the community seeking deliverance for Jerusalem.

In Acts 21:9 the four daughters of Phillip were bestowed the gifts of prophecy. The Greek word used in Acts 21:9 for prophesying is prophēteuōwhich means "to prophesy, to be a prophet, speak forth by divine inspirations, to predict".

In Revelations 2:20, where Jesus was speaking to the individual churches in Asia Minor (Thyatira), there was reference to a false prophetess called Jezebel. Jesus mentions this woman as having an unacceptable influence on the church. Furthermore, Jesus is obviously not impressed with her claim to being a prophet; she was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Her wicked actions parallel Queen Jezebel's in 1 Kin 16 and 2 Kin 9. She teaches and seduces God's servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Jesus is displeased with the church of Thyatira because they tolerate this Jezebel.

From the examples given above, it becomes clear that Jehovah could and would use women in His ministry, putting in doubt the idea that women should be subservient to the men when it comes to ministry work. Strangely, men seem to abhor women in ministry UNLESS the women lead them into sexual immorality like Jezebel. Peculiar, isn't this?

Let Your Women Keep Silent?

There has been a ridiculous misunderstanding of the text in 1 Corinthians 14 which has permeated evangelical churches (possibly most churches in the world), and this must be correctly interpreted in the light of the context that it was mentioned. Take into consideration that the Cambridge and Oxford translators under King James were wary of not antagonizing the king too much, and the king had been brought up culturally to follow the 'women should keep silent in any part of life' philosophy, especially since this was practiced by the Vatican and also by the Islamic world at the time. The culture dictated the translation here rather than the direct Word of Christ changing the culture (as it normally should be permitted to do so).

Statements of logic: Yeshua had 12 disciples, all were men, but that does not mean that women were beneath them or shut out of any ministry. If it was surmised that all the disciples were all perfect, and perfectly following the Mosaic Law, and that is why they were chosen, why then was there a traitor among the 12? No, the disciples were men for practical purposes. They had to be physically strong to walk around with Him, plus a woman would be a strong sexual temptation. Yet Yeshua had to make the number of men 12 to fulfill prophecy.

In Christ, there is no male or female. All things are lawful but not all things are expedient. Which, being explained in more common vernacular, means that in Christ's eyes, He doesn't give a damned about which gender, race or nationality the person is, being extremely neutral. But this doesn't preclude the use of practical common sense. One can break all the Laws of Moses and still get to Heaven through Christ, but on the earth, doing bad things would get one into trouble. The believer is admonished to use the wisdom of Christ, which is extremely practical.

34 Quieten down the wives in your congregation: for it is rude to gossip loudly during the service; in fact the Law of Moses specifically says slander is a sin, and as such the wives should be subject to the Law of Moses.

The wives are gossiping during the speaking of tongues, loudly and across the room to their husbands, and saying that speaking in other tongues is undignified. They would shout over the tongue talkers and try to find out and gossip over their interpretations. It is uncouth for them to rabble rouse over the talking in tongues. They should follow the Mosaic Law that says bearing false witness (which really is what gossiping is about) is wrong. If they want to find out any information from their husbands, they should ask them at home, not in church during the spiritual gatherings. Also note that the Apostle Paul used the possessive pronoun Yours, meaning that this situation was particular to the Corinthians' service not to ALL, which would have made use of another Greek word.

The King James Version (KJV), commonly known as the Authorized Version (AV) or King James Bible (KJB), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611. First printed by the King's Printer Robert Barker, this was the third translation into English to be approved by the English Church authorities. The first was the Great Bible commissioned in the reign of King Henry VIII (1535), and the second was the Bishops' Bible of 1568.

Who Were the King James Translators

One of the first things the new King James did was the calling of the Hampton Court Conference in January of 1604 "for the hearing, and for the determining, things pretended to be amiss in the church." Here were assembled bishops, clergymen, and professors, along with four Puritan divines, to consider the complaints of the Puritans. Although Bible revision was not on the agenda, the Puritan president of Corpus Christi College, John Reynolds, "moved his Majesty, that there might be a new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reigns of Henry the eighth and Edward the sixth, were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the Original."

Although 54 men were nominated, only forty-seven were known to have taken part in the work of translation. The translators were organized into 6 groups, and met respectively at Westminster, Cambridge and Oxford. Ten at Westminster were assigned Genesis through 2 Kings; seven had Romans through Jude. At Cambridge, eight worked on 1 Chronicles through Ecclesiastes, while seven others handled the Apocrypha. Oxford employed 7 to translate Isaiah through Malachi; eight occupied themselves with the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation.

The King James Version translators took the baton passed on to them by devout men and martyrs who translated before them. Men like John Wycliff, aka "The Morning Star of the Reformation" who was the first to translate the entire Bible into English. Although he only had the Latin Vulgate to work with, you can see his influence on Tyndale's translation and ultimately the Authorized Version. Like Martin Luther, Dr Wycliff was awakened to the truth through the reading of the scriptures. He spoke out vehemently against the Romish rites and practices that at that time had a stranglehold on the land.

The King James translation was done by 47 scholars, all of whom were members of the Church of England. In common with most other translations of the period, the New Testament was translated from Greek, the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew and Aramaic text, while the Apocrypha were translated from the Greek and Latin. In the Book of Common Prayer (1662), the text of the Authorized Version replaced the text of the Great Bible – for Epistle and Gospel readings – and as such was authorized by Act of Parliament. By the first half of the 18th century, the Authorized Version had become effectively unchallenged as the English translation used in Anglican and Protestant churches. Over the course of the 18th century, the Authorized Version supplanted the Latin Vulgate as the standard version of scripture for English-speaking scholars. With the development of stereotype printing at the beginning of the 19th century, this version of the Bible became the most widely printed book in history, almost all such printings presenting the standard text of 1769 extensively re-edited by Benjamin Blayney at Oxford; and nearly always omitting the books of the Apocrypha. Today the unqualifed title 'King James Version' commonly identifies this Oxford standard text, especially in the United States.

The Bible as the Word of Jehovahby the Pen of Man

The Biblical proof of the divine revelation of the text in the Bible is shown in 2 Peter 1:20–21, "First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from Jehovah." This passage teaches that when you read Scripture, what you are reading does not merely come from a man but also from Jehovah. The Bible is the writing of many different men. But it is also far more than that. Yes, men spoke. They spoke with their own language and style.

Speaking from Jehovah, Moved by the Holy Spirit

First, they spoke from Jehovah. What they have to say is not merely from their own limited mental perspective. They are not the origin of the truth they speak; they are the channel. The truth they speak of through their writings is Jehovah's truth. Their meaning is Jehovah's meaning. Second, not only is what they spoke from Jehovah, but how they spoke it is controlled by the Holy Spirit. "Men, moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from Jehovah." Jehovah did not simply reveal truth to the writers of Scripture and then depart in hopes that they might communicate it accurately. Peter says that in the very communicating of it they were carried by the Holy Spirit. The making of the Bible was not left to merely human skills of communication; the Holy Spirit himself carried the process to completion. One recent book by three former teachers (LaSor, Hubbard, and Bush,Old Testament Survey, p. 15) puts it like this:

"To assure verbal precision God, in communicating His revelation, must be verbally precise, and inspiration must extend to the very words. This does not mean that God dictated every word. Rather His Spirit so pervaded the mind of the human writer that He chose out of His own vocabulary and experience precisely those words, thoughts and expressions that conveyed God's message with precision. In this sense the words of the human authors of Scripture can be viewed as the word of God."

Not Just Prophecy, but All Scripture

Someone might say that 2 Peter 1:20–21 only has to do with prophecy not with all Old Testament Scripture. But look carefully how he argues. In verse 19, Peter says that a prophetic word has been made more sure to him by his experience with Yeshua (Jesus) on the mount of transfiguration. Then, in verses 20–21, he undergirds the authority of this prophetic word by saying it is part of Scripture. Verse 20: "No prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation." Peter is not saying that only prophetic parts of Scripture are inspired by Jehovah. He is saying, we know the prophetic word is inspired precisely because it is a "prophecy of Scripture." Peter's assumption is that whatever stands in Scripture is from Jehovah, written by men who were carried along by the Holy Spirit. His teaching is the same as Paul's in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is inspired by Jehovah and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." None of the Old Testament Scriptures came by the impulse of man. All of it is truth from Jehovah as men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from Jehovah.

What About the New Testament Writings?

Did the apostles and their close associates (Mark, Luke, James, Jude, and the writer to the Hebrews) experience divine inspiration as they wrote? Were they "carried" by the Holy Spirit to speak from Jehovah? The Christian church has always answered yes. Yeshua (Jesus) said to his apostles in John 16:12–13, "I have yet many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you things that are to come." Then the apostle Paul confirms this when He says of His own apostolic teaching in 1 Corinthians 2:12–13, "We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from Jehovah, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by Jehovah. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit." In 2 Corinthians 13:3 he said that Christ speaks in him. And in Galatians 1:12 he said, "I did not receive [my gospel] from man nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Yeshua Christos (Jesus Christ)." If we take Paul as our model for what it meant to be an apostle of Christ, then it would be fair to say that the New Testament as well as the Old is not merely from man but also from Jehovah. The writers of the Old Testament and New Testament spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Is the Divine Author of Scripture

The doctrine that emerges is this: The Holy Spirit is the divine author of all Scripture, and ultimately the absolute authority on the teaching of the Word (1 John 2:27). If this doctrine is true, then the implications are so profound and far-reaching that every part of our lives should be affected.

The Bible is the most printed book in the world, by a long shot. According to statistics brain, online, there have been over 6 billion bibles printed up to 2013. And it is the most translated book in the world, estimated at 6,900 and counting. So it is absolute foolishness to dismiss its authenticity and its authorship by the Spirit of God. No human or carnal organization could reach these levels of statistical awesomeness on their own.

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(As revealed to this author circa December 2014)

In the Old Testament, all knowledge and wisdom in the universe was available as layers upon layers of knowledge, requiring great study and a subservience to the 'Teacher' (the Holy Spirit of Christ) to perceive revelation. These layers may be blatantly obvious, occasionally allegorical or prosaic and sometimes, even encoded (encrypted).

The Bible, taken as a whole, is a journey through life for each individual, as well as the Church (believers in Christ).

It talks about the beginning (Genesis), the end (escathology eg Daniel), the focus (Yeshua, the prophecies about Him) and the workings of the spiritual dimension, portrayed as the physical in the Old Testament, and the spiritual in the New Testament. If you consider that education was meted out in a class (as an analogy of what happens in the physical universe) then the Church was being, and is being taught exactly what was and is happening in 'reality' where the real 'real' is actually the spiritual dimension.

1) First the 'Church' was birthed through Adam and Eve

2) was weaned during the time of the Torah

3) Jehovah then taught the 'terrible teen' adolescent Church (the Hebrew people in their apostasy and exile)

4) was matured during the life of Christ (the Apostolic Gospels)

5) blossomed in the Apostolic book of Acts

6) plans for marriage were made in the Epistles

7) the Banns of marriage will come to pass in Revelation

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Jeremiah 1 King James Version (KJV)

12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten (shaqad: watch) my word to perform it.

"A through knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education" - Theodore Roosevelt

So how do we approach Scripture in a way that promotes real life change? Weblink

READ with an open, focused mind and a surrendered heart. Ask God to help you understand the context (big picture) of what you’re reading and the author’s original intentions.

REFLECT on what you’re reading. Pause to reread portions of it and let it soak in. If something really speaks to your heart highlight it or make a note. If something raises a question jot it down to explore later.

RESPOND to what you’ve read. Is there an action to take or an attitude to adjust? Is there a sin to confess or a praise to offer God? Prayerfully invite the Holy Spirit to continue speaking to you from what you’ve read.

Use a small notebook to record your daily reading, reflecting and responding. This is a great way to review your journey with God through Scripture and can be an encouragement when times get tough.

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Meaning of Exegesis

The branch of theology that specializes in interpretation, or exegesis, of Biblical literature. Historically, exegetes have recognized four levels of meaning in the Bible:

- the historical or literal,

- the allegorical,

- the moral, and the

- anagogical or mystical, putting emphasis on the necessity of a foundation for the latter three in the literal sense. — exegete, n.